The gaming industry has experienced tremendous growth and increased popularity in recent times. As a result, gaming machines such as slot machines, video poker machines, and many of the new computerized multi-game machines have become extremely popular and are commonly the primary attraction for many gaming and entertainment establishments. These gaming machines are the subject of immense design efforts by game manufacturers which strive to develop new gaming machines that will attract players, encourage game play and maximize establishment profits.
In order to capture the public's interest and entice interaction with gaming machines, game manufacturers continually improve their gaming machines by incorporating newly developed technologies. The incorporation of these new technologies enables the gaming machine to provide an advanced gaming environment utilizing such improvements as enhanced graphics, multi-media content, interactive game play and more exciting games. For example, some of the more advanced gaming machines may employ more than one visual display for presenting multi-media content such as animations and video clips.
As these newer technologies have been utilized, traditional mechanical-type slot machines are frequently being replaced with new high-tech electronic gaming machines. These electronic gaming machines commonly utilize numerous internal electrical components such as a power supply, a visual display, a communication board, a sound system, a computer or controller, a printer, a currency acceptor and various card readers to name a few. One issue related to the implementation of these components is that they generate heat. If the components are not cooled adequately, the components may malfunction or prematurely fail. This issue of heat generation is even more pronounced relative to gaming machines because such machines are commonly always left “on” to attract players and take full advantage of the profit earning potential of the gaming machine.
In addition to incorporating new technologies into existing gaming machines, game manufactures strive to design smaller and more compact gaming machines. In today's gaming establishments, casino floor space is at a premium and is extremely expensive to develop. As a result, gaming establishments are motivated to optimize the casino floor space and thus maximize casino profitability by providing as many gaming machines as can physically be placed on the casino floor. Correspondingly, gaming machines that are smaller and more compact are favored by the gaming establishments. However, as the machines become smaller, the components therein are located closer together and it thus becomes increasingly difficult to cool those components.
The current techniques employed for thermal management have several disadvantages. For example, while natural convection of air through the gaming machine may be utilized, this air flow often proves inadequate to offset the rate of heat generation.
Another problem in designing cooling systems for gaming machines is associated with the need to protect the components within the gaming machine from access. First, the system must not allow a person to access the interior components, as such may compromise the security of the gaming machine and permit tampering. Second, the system must also not permit foreign objects or materials to enter the gaming machine which might affect the operation of the machine.